Darkman TV Pilot!

Oooh, this sounds interesting. It’s the unaired pilot for what would’ve been a Darkman television series, from 1992:

Very curious to see this. I loved the original movie, which was sort of like the dopey son of Batman and The Crow.

For reasons I still can’t fathom, we rented the video upon its release, and the whole family watched it together. We never watched movies as a family, and I can’t think of anyone who would’ve been pulling that hard for Darkman. It just sort of happened.

It’d later become one of those flicks that was always on cable. At this point, I’ve probably seen Darkman more than 50 times, despite the fact that I’ve never once purposely set out to see it.

…which brings me to tonight’s survey:

Name a movie (or a few movies) that you ended up seeing all the time almost on accident. These probably wouldn’t be your favorite movies, but once you see anything a hundred times, your heart makes a place for it.

I feel like Sister Act 2 was always airing somewhere growing up. It’s not something I ever once sought out but I know it beat by beat at this point.

Brew Berry

There’s lots of movies we saw over and over again thanks to HBO and Cinemax (anyone else remember the old standup line “You know what HBO stands for? Hey, Beastmaster’s On.”), but the one we kept seeing most often was The Breakfast Club. Either somehow we developed the preternaturally useless power of always turning to those channels each and every time the movie aired, or they just broadcast the hell out of it for about three years in a row.

There was also an entire month where any time we channel surfed, The Blues Brothers was always just starting on the third or fourth station we flipped to. We were all cool with that though.

Jay Radd

For some stretch of time, Howard the Duck and Jaws 4 were always playing on HBO or Cinemax when I was a kid. I’d watch them over and over. Those were good times.

Tracy

For me that movie would be Caddyshack. It seems like every time I turn on the tv it’s on.

Madra Rua

I feel like Lethal Weapon 1 and 2 were always on in my house when I was a kid. I was definitely too young to have intentionally sought them out, but I would sit and watch them any time I walked in the room and they were on (which really did seem to be all the damn time). Any time I say or think “I’m getting too old for this shit” (which is starting to occur more frequently these days than I’m really comfortable with..) I hear it in Murtaugh’s voice in my head.

Madra Rua

I swear there must have been a timeframe where 90% of every channel’s broadcasts were The Breakfast Club..because it’s hard to remember a time when that wasn’t on at least one channel while you were flipping through! And, I thought it was ok, but I still don’t really get the fascination, lol.

Doctor_Who

We used to spend a lot of time being babysat by my uncle, and he owned exactly 4 movies on VHS: the entire Back to the Future trilogy, and Dick Tracy.

I owned the BTTF films myself, so we’d watch Dick Tracy. Probably saw that movie 20 times over the course of 2 years or so.

Also gotta give an honorable mention to Grease, since my mother loved it and watched it all the time. I hate Grease to this day, but can recite huge swaths of it because it was on so often in our house.

I don’t really like romantic movies, but that was just about all my college friends wanted to watch. If they wanted to hang out and watch a movie, I would either have to claim I had other plans or try to play nice. One of my friends got a tape of “Dirty Dancing” and I at least liked the soundtrack and the awkward moment when Baby explained her appearance at a party with the “I carried a watermelon” line… so we ended up watching that movie quite a bit just so we could all hang out and not fight about what movie to watch.

I remember catching The Blues Brothers a lot on TV as well. It was a bit of a revelation to get the DVD as an adult and realize just how much was cut out both for the theatrical release and then again for TV.

Madra Rua

My mom had a Patrick Swayze fascination, so Dirty Dancing was on quite a bit. I think I could sing along with every song in that movie, despite the fact that I never particularly liked it.

Bart Crowe

That movie for me was Short Circuit 2. That movie always seemed to be on when I was a kid and I always felt the need to watch it. Funny thing is I’ve only seen the original once and didn’t really care for it.

The Cable Guy. I had to watch it about a thousand times over the course of 20 years to finally understand the true brilliance of that movie. Holy shit, that movie is over 20 years old…and so am I…damn! Anyway, it’s the kind of movie you can watch again after you’ve just finished watching it or at least it is for me, lol.

My Dad (may he Rest In Peace) was a big fan of time travel stories. For whatever he loved that genre. Although I watched many with him (Back To The Future, The Terminator, etc.) probably the one we watched together most was a movie called Time After Time. If you’ve never seen it it’s about Jack The Ripper (David Warner) stealing a time machine built by HG Wells (Malcolm McDowell) and coming to modern day San Francisco to wreak havoc. Modern day in the case of this film was the 70s. We never specifically set out to watch it but for whatever reason in the 80s it was on TV constantly. I still think of my Dad anytime I come across it.

Madra Rua

I love Sunny but we got behind since we basically can’t watch it when the kids are home haha. I think we’re just starting on season 5, but I need to catch up! That sounds hilarious (and probably terrible lol!)

Madra Rua

I tried to rewatch the original last year, and the beginning was so boring I didn’t make it through! I’m wondering if I watched them both often as a kid, or just stuck to part 2.

Hallie

My mother used to put on Sleepless in Seattle, My Best Friend’s Wedding, and Jaws whenever they were on; I haven’t seen any of these all the way through in one sitting, but I’ve seen them all piecemeal, especially the endings of SIS and Jaws (and yes, one of these days I WILL sit down to watch all of Jaws at once… but I’ve probably seen it 5 times over by now).

Madra Rua

I..don’t want to think about that being more than 20 years ago *cries*. I looved that movie (probably way more than it deserved), and still watch it every once and a while! My best friend and I had the soundtrack; we were such dorks haha 😉

Brian

Forrest Gump, Mrs. Doubtfire, Party Monster (Roommates are responsible for my repeated viewings of that film), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Troop Beverly Hills, and A Chorus Line. My cousin is responsible for the last two, and my parents for the first two. I can sit through any of them without issue except for A Chorus Line, because I dislike a lot of musicals.

There also was a time when Flashdance was one of these, but kid me grew up into crushing hard for Jennifer Beals, and I still have a crush on her now. I also PROUDLY have a copy of Flashdance on blu-ray sitting on my shelf, sandwiched in between Drive and Bad Grandpa for some reason. Oh what a feeling.

SHAEGGY

Hey, I STILL have The Cable Guy soundtrack on CD and I didn’t even particularly like the movie…The things I buy to expand my Toadies music collection. “Don’t take the green acid; that’s for the bass player.” I still utter this line a couple of times each year.

SHAEGGY

I think I recall seeing that there’s a modern reboot of Time After Time coming as a TV series very soon…Jack the Ripper stealing a time machine kind of stays with you for a pitch.

It’s terrible and definitely not PC, but I literally have tears coming out of my eyes from laughter.

SHAEGGY

Any time Rocky I through IV was on TV growing up, which was often, my dad and I would immediately start watching whichever film it was…Of course, it was usually a marathon so there went the entire afternoon. Even today, I continue this tradition on with my 10-year-old son.

These past few years, it seems like Ghostbusters I and II are always on TV, often back to back, and then again as a repeat back to back. We’ll always stop on whichever channel plays it, usually casually paying attention to the movie and often quoting movie lines to impress the kids…The second time through, it’s mostly just for background noise. Love those movies.

~SpikeIsMine~

Good stuff! I’ve seen all the Good, the bad, the ugly films in bits and peices, my dad always watched them on tbs.

SHAEGGY

Not all the songs on that one are winners, but there are numerous good ones. I agree on that Jerry Cantrell song. Good stuff.

Madra Rua

It was definitely very 90s! Of course, we played “Somebody to Love” constantly, lol. It wasn’t a bad cover at all!

Madra Rua

I loved the movie clips on the soundtrack! I honestly would probably still listen to it if I knew where it ended up, haha.

Madra Rua

That’s how I feel about so much from that show! I wish we could watch it more often!

Madra Rua

I used to watch What About Bob ALL the time, and now, weirdly enough, I barely remember what happens in it! I wonder if it’s streaming somewhere, because I’d love to rewatch it sometime!

“That night the Oakland chapter of the Hell’s Angels had their way. Tonight, it’s my turn.”

Whalley Range

Four Weddings has a) the best use of a poem in any film I can think of and b) best use of the word F***.

Whalley Range

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken
The Incredible Mr. Limpet

KelseyW

Sister Act 2 is not as good as the first movie, but it’s still special to me, IMO it’s just as funny as the first movie, but with more cheese and drama. lol

I made a comment about Sister Act during the last survey. Wish I could’ve seen that one in theaters!

And I’ll be honest… Finding out that the actress who played Sister Mary Robert couldn’t really sing was worse than discovering that Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy didn’t exist combined! 🙁

This one didn’t get much play on T.V. (And still doesn’t.) but it used to be a regular on ABC Family. Girls Just Want To Have Fun. Helen Hunt is a hoot and Sarah Jessica Parker is adorable. 🙂

~SpikeIsMine~

HAha yeah, I know what you mean!

~SpikeIsMine~

Yes!!!!

Whalley Range

I wish…I wish I were a fish.

SHAEGGY

Well, I just did some research on the reboot Time After Time series and it appears that it’s already come and gone. It debueted in early March and ABC canceled it after only five episodes. I kind of wanted to see that one, too.

Linden Rathan

Cobra, Predator, any of the 3 Ninja movies, any Rocky movie, Tommy Boy, Black Sheep, The Big Lebowski. That’s mostly what stands out for me when it comes to movies I used to see on TV a lot.

I eventually came to see watching movies on TV as a waste of time though, since too much is cut out unless its on a premium channel. So I’d avoid watching them, then I moved out and knew enough to get my entertainment elsewhere instead of bothering with TV.

starwenn

One of the advantages of cable was getting to see smaller movies, especially comedies, that you would have never sought out in the theaters or even on video, but always seemed to be on. Among the movies I discovered this way – “Grease 2,” “Weekend at Bernie’s,” “The Pirate Movie,” “Short Circuit,” “Sixteen Candles,” “Adventures In Babysitting,” “Troop Beverly Hills,” “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure,” “License to Drive,” “Teen Witch,” “A Christmas Story,” “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” and several editions of “Police Academy.”

Teddy Ray

If you wanna be somebody, if you wanna go somewhere, you better wake up and pay attention!

Teddy Ray

That’s the song I think about whenever I think about that movie. Speaking of Jim Carrey singing, I have a CD that George Martin (The Beatles’ producer) did that has a lot of people covering Beatles songs. Jim Carrey does “I Am the Walrus” and it’s pretty good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdzuR4Iunuw

What a mess of a movie. Its heart is in the right place and it’s trying to say something about War, but it’s so slap dash and incoherent.

But that never stopped me from watching any of the times it came on HBO or late 90s comedy central.

Teddy Ray

I was really disappointed when it was canceled. I really liked it. I’m a sucker for time travel. At least I still have Timeless and Making History. I don’t know for sure, but you could probably watch the five episodes they did air on abc.com or maybe Hulu. I’m hoping they show the remaining episodes over the summer. They’ve done that before in the past with other shows they canceled too soon.

SHAEGGY

Yes, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is another one that we’ll watch anytime it’s on TV, which is often between Turkey Day and Christmas. I at least keep it seasonal but I found my wife watching it a few weeks back, obviously out-of-sight, and was like, “Didn’t you get enough in December? And why is any TV station airing a Christmas movie in March?!”

Teddy Ray

When I was younger, it seemed like TNT showed The Lost Boys ALL THE TIME. And every time I came across it, I felt compelled to watch it. The only movie I can think of now that I stumble upon on a regular basis is Sky High. And again, I have to watch it. I don’t know why…probably because Kelly Preston and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

for some reason I’ve seen them tons but can never remember what happens in them. I saw them recently playing in the background somewhere and I had no memory of Gary Busey being in it or shooting the guy through his diplomatic ID.

Well, being a boy with a sister, it has to be any Disney film, like Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid etc, The Care Bears movie, and of those kid’s films about animals like Dunston Checks In.

I prefer the Disney films with less romance, like Aladdin, Sword in the Stone, Jungle Book etc. In fact, since I missed the “what film makes you cry” survey, I will say, Disney’s “direct to video” Jungle Book 2 had me crying!

Mowgli leaving Baloo and Bagheera at the end had been one of my most sad “cartoon life lessons” as a kid (along with the Snowman). So seeing that he can live in the man-village AND keep his jungle friends…Seeing Mowgli, his girlfriend, her little brother, Baloo and Bagheera at the end, all 5 of them walking off singing Bare Necessities, choked me up.

There was a time as recently as last year where it felt like all AMC aired on weekends was Jaws and the entire Tremors series (the original being the best and my personal favorite, although 2 was definitely passable as sequels go– the lack of Kevin Bacon didn’t help it.)

Going further back, we never had cable growing up so I didn’t watch a lot of movies on tv, but Ghostbusters seemed to be a pretty popular one to syndicate. We had a floor to ceiling bookshelf of VHS growing up (really only the first five rows were VHS but it was still sizable enough that I always had something to watch when I felt like it, and we rented from a mom and pop video rental place up the road pretty much every weekend.)

Tremere98

I remember being so disappointed in Darkman as a kid… I picked up the marvel limited series comic adaptation and was so excited because they were decent books… and then I saw the movie and was totally let down.

It’s cliche’, but I’m a sucker for Breakfast Club. I hate the fact that it’s censored on tv, and I own multiple releases of it but damned if I don’t sit thru it every time anyway.

tbone2278

I do recall seeing the commercials for it but I never checked it out. My TV schedule is too full as it is right now.

Wow, I didn’t remember him being in it either, despite the fact that I’ve seen the movie more times than I could count! Maybe it’s because I saw it before I knew who Gary Busey was, lol. Probably how I never made the connection that the dad in Beetlejuice was the same guy in Ferris Bueller and Howard the Duck until I was much older!

Madra Rua

Wow, he can really pull that one off!

KN09

Young Einstein comes to mind, it was on Comedy Central a lot, especially at the weird hours I generally kept and, er, keep. So was PCU and the original Revenge of the Nerds.

Teddy Ray

I think so, too. That’s a really interesting album. Robin Williams does “Come Together” with Bobby McFerrin, Goldie Hawn does “A Hard Day’s Night,” and Billy Connolly does “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite.” Sean Connery also does what can only be described as a spoken word performance of “In My Life,” which led my friend and I to think of other songs we wanted to hear Sean Connery read the lyrics to. My favorite one is, “All I wanna do is zoom-a-zoom-a-zoom-zoom and a poom-poom…just shake your rump.”

So would I! Just an entire album of Sean Connery reading inappropriate rap lyrics…it would be awesome!

Matt

Airplane, Naked Gun, Naked Gun 2 1/2, Police Academy 1-6, License To Drive, The Burbs, Back To The Future 1-3, and Ski Patrol….but it was no accident. I intentionally rented the same movies every time my dad took us to Blockbuster. It’s amazing he never left me there.

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